Take a Sad Song and Make It Better
by finnth3human
Summary: Viola told herself if one person smiled at her she wouldn't do it. Rather than a smile though, she got a boy, no older than herself, talking her out of it. Following this random act of kindness, she's thrown into a world of wonder, magic… and danger.
1. Guardian Angel

**I've had this idea running around in my head for a while now, and this is what I came up with.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians.**

**Warning: this deals with attempted suicide and depression.**

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The world was white, completely blanketed by snow like icing on a cake. Footsteps couldn't be heard, only the sound of crunching snow under people's feet. Throughout the day the streets were littered with giggling and shrieking children, but at night they were mostly empty, only populated by snowflakes falling like tiny acrobats. Some roads had tyre tracks in them from drivers who were brave enough to venture out in their cars, while others, mainly the country roads and cul-de-sacs, had signs of built snowmen and snowball fights. It was the perfect winter day. I'd say it was beautiful but I lost my concept of beauty a long time ago.

The clothes I was wearing I'd worn the day before: a red, knitted, loose-fit Christmas jumper adorned with white snowflakes and reindeer; a black pleated, knee-length skirt with an elasticated waistline; a plain grey beanie covering my unkempt dark hair; cream, opaque knitted tights and leather, lace-up ankle boots. I didn't go home last night so I didn't get chance to change. I'd wandered the streets all night, nobody knew where I was but I doubted anyone cared. It snowed all night, too, strangely enough. It didn't stop once which gave me a sense of companionship.

The sun had long since set and the streets were quickly emptying. Every person I passed I stared at for a couple of moments, though hardly any of them looked back, and if they did they glanced away just as fast. Did I appear as bad as I felt? One smile –that was all I asked for. One smile and I'd turn around and go home, rather than heading for Brooklyn Bridge. I even walked slowly to buy some more time, maybe I'd bump into some more people, and maybe one of them would smile.

I reached the bridge sooner than I expected and it was deserted. By this point I almost ran to the middle, where I grasped hold of the metal fence and peered over it. It was a long way down. I exhaled deeply, before taking one last glance over my shoulder. Empty.

With slippery shoes I slowly ascended onto the top of the fence, placing a hand onto the limestone column to steady myself. The wind whipped around me, blowing my hair and snowflakes in front of my face. I looked across the water to the lights of New York City and actually found myself smiling. If I had to see a certain sight before I died, I was glad it was New York.

The smile quickly disappeared and tears sprung to my eyes. I'd tried numerous times to write a note, I at least owed the folks at the home an explanation, but I couldn't put into words the amount of pain I was feeling and how badly I wanted it to disappear.

"Should you really be standing up there?" A somewhat deep voice behind me asked suddenly. I shut my eyes tightly and refused to turn around. I wanted a smile, not a lecture. When I didn't reply he spoke again, more to himself than me, "I hope she isn't doing what I think she's doing."

I opened my eyes at this and turned to glare at whoever it was over my shoulder, surprised by how he was closer than I expected. "And what do you think I'm doing?" I spat. My anger faltered a little as I took in the boy's appearance.

He was young, around seventeen or eighteen. His eyes, which had widened at my voice, were a piercing light blue; a slightly lighter blue framed his pupil in the almost unnoticeable shape of a snowflake. He had pale white skin that seemed completely smooth and flawless, his face was sprinkled with very light freckles and he had thin light pink lips that were almost white, set into a confused frown. His eyebrows were brown, a completely different colour to his spiked hair which was white as freshly-fallen snow. His face was a slight oval shape, complete with a sharp jaw.

His clothes were odd; he was more underdressed for the weather than I was. His long, thin legs were clad in brown pants that cut off mid-shin, the edges tattered and torn. On his torso he was wearing a dark blue hooded sweater with icy frost crawling up the sleeves and interwoven through the fabric at the shoulders and chest. In his right hand he was holding a long stick similar to a shepherd's crook, but frost coated it partly where he touched it. The thing I found most odd was that he was completely barefoot in the snow and didn't seem at all fazed by it.

"Wait," he said, allowing me to hear the rasp in his voice again. "You can see me?" Was he drunk? I really didn't have time for this.

"Of course I can," I replied quickly and turned away from him. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone."

"Why? So you can throw yourself off a bridge without any witnesses?" He questioned, sounding a little frustrated. My head snapped back in his direction and my heart started to beat harder.

"You don't know anything about me," I snapped, more tears spilling from my eyes hotter and faster.

He took a step forward which caused me to shift a little on the fence. I noticed his face drop and what seemed to be fear flash in his eyes. "You're right, I don't," he said. "My name's Jack. What's yours?" An icy wind blew at my face and I realised I couldn't feel my nose.

I eyed this Jack carefully for a few moments, before sighing and saying, "Viola. My name's Viola."

"Viola," he mused and inched forward a little, this time I didn't move. "That's a pretty name. Tell me, Viola, why do you want to do this?"

"Why should I tell _you_?" I countered. "I don't know you."

"Exactly. Isn't it much easier to tell a stranger why you want to die, than your family or friends?"

I stared at him for a few moments, puzzled by his presence. Maybe I was hallucinating. Either way, he had a point. What would it matter if a stranger knew my reasoning? He had no emotional attachment to me. All he knew was my name and that I was ready to jump off of Brooklyn Bridge.

"Nobody cares about me," I heard myself whisper. I studied the snowy floor beneath me, not wanting to look at Jack to see his reaction.

"Someone must do," he said softly, moving even closer. "Not even your parents?"

I shook my head quickly and my tears started to blur my vision. "I don't have any. I live in a care home."

"Well I'm sure _someone_ there cares about you?"

"Not since I was declared 'unadoptable'." I lifted my eyes to finally look at Jack, he was frowning and his eyes were glistening as if he was on the verge of tears, but he furrowed his eyebrows and gripped his stick tightly as if anger was building up inside of him. "And before you ask, I don't have any friends either. Nobody wants to be friends with the orphan."

"You don't deserve to be treated like that," Jack's voice was barely audible and his eyes met mine.

I shrugged. "Helped me to realise how worthless I am though."

He suddenly got a very dangerous glint in his eye. "Don't say that." He averted his gaze and I noticed he was breathing heavily through his nose. "They're the worthless ones for making you feel that way."

Seeing him so worked up over my stupid problems caused me to feel unbelievable guilt and anger. I'd only just met him and I was hurting him. "I don't need this. _You _don't need this." I edged further forward so only my heels were on the iron bar, behind me I heard Jack's breath catch.

"How old are you, Viola? Seventeen? Eighteen? However old you are, you're young. You have a whole life ahead of you."

An uncontrollable sob ripped its way out of my throat at Jack's words. "I just feel so alone!" I whimpered. He stepped up beside me and held a hand out. I eyed it briefly, then turned my attention to his face. His eyes were screaming for me to trust him. "Jack… I'm scared."

Something flickered across his face. Was it surprise? He seemed to have been reminded of a memory that was buried rather deep. "I know, I know. But you have me now." He spoke ever so softly once returning to reality. I glanced back at the water that was so far below me, then again at Jack. "You have to believe in me." And he smiled, revealing a set of pearly white teeth. _He smiled_.

"Okay," I whispered. I grabbed his outstretched hand and embarked on lowering myself from the fence.

"Slowly, it's okay," Jack was encouraging. "I got you." When I was safely on the ground again, I immediately threw myself at Jack and clung to his neck. He slowly sank to the floor, hugging me back just as tightly and cradling my head, allowing me to cry into his chest.

We sat there in the snow for what felt like hours while I sobbed my heart out, Jack remained silent save for the occasions he would shush me gently, and rocked me back and forth as he stroked my hair tenderly. Once I was all cried out he pulled me into his arms, holding me bridal style as he stood up and began walking. I was too exhausted to complain or argue, so I just rested my head against his chest and said almost inaudibly, "thank you." Then the rhythmic beating of his heart lulled me to sleep.

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**I have a kind of idea where I want to go with this. ****I don't know how often updates will be but I'll try my best.**


	2. Don't Panic

**Wow, thank you soaringphoenix86 for that long-ass review. As for the timeline, this is post-RotG. Jack was surprised at the fact Viola can see him because she's not a child, and he was frustrated because she's young, and a similar age to what he was when he died. Hope that clears it up :-)**

**Thank you to the other people who have reviewed, favourited and followed this, I honestly didn't expect many people to like this idea.**

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I awoke in an unfamiliar but beautiful room. I was lying on a long, plush, beige sofa; the floor was covered with a royal red carpet that even looked very soft; a large, golden chandelier with twelve branches holding candles hung from the ceiling above me; beside me there was a small, light brown, varnished coffee table which a mug patterned with snowflakes was placed upon. A sudden pop startled me, I turned around to see a fire burning, and the flames licking the logs calmed me instantly.

I sat up slowly, causing the multiple blankets to fall from my torso and reveal my change of clothes. I was now wearing a simple but stunning, knitted, off-white dress that ended just above my knees, with long sleeves and a soft texture, my tights had been replaced by knee-length black socks, I was no longer wearing my beanie and my boots were placed beside the sofa.

I suddenly remembered Jack and blushed. Had he changed my clothes? Was I in his home? Despite my confusion I reached out for the mug and smiled at the contents: hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. It mustn't have been there long for it was still hot. I took a sip, then placed it back on the table, before gingerly easing myself off of the sofa. After stepping into my boots I admired myself in the mirror in the corner of the room. I had to admit, if Jack did dress me, he certainly had good taste. I made my way out of the room very cautiously, feeling like something of an intruder, pushing the wooden double doors open gently. What I saw when I got through them forced my jaw to drop almost completely to the floor.

The room was huge, circular and had many tiers – reminding me of a coliseum in Shakespearean times; there were toys of every colour everywhere, flying around in the air and creating lots of noise. I rushed to the edge of the platform I was on and grasped onto the smooth wooden banister. Leaning over I realised just how high up I was, and far below me there was what appeared to be a massive globe.

I was knocked breathless for a few moments, until voices were carried up the many levels to my ears. I couldn't make out what they were saying and I only vaguely recognised one as Jack's. Intrigued, I started glancing around, trying to find a way to travel lower down. Just then I felt something tugging at one of my socks, and warily lowered my gaze to see something very small dressed in red with a bell atop its head. Yelping, I stumbled backwards, then covered my mouth as though it would magically erase the sound I just emitted. Was that an elf? He was very small and was staring at me with wide, amber-orange eyes. The longer I studied him the cuter he became, with his red cheeks and small nose. I smiled and got to my knees to be closer to him.

"Hi, there," I greeted quietly. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you." He folded his hands behind his back, scuffing the ground with his foot as he looked down almost shyly. He appeared to mentally slap himself and shook his head, then lifted his gaze to meet mine. Next thing I knew, he was jumping up and down excitedly, while pointing at something behind him. I raised my head to see what he was gesturing at, smirking when I spotted the staircase.

"Why thank you," I said. "Will you join me?" He nodded vigorously, the bell atop his head jingling. I heard the same sound as he followed behind me as I headed towards the stairs.

The steps seemed to go on forever, but I eventually arrived at the bottom where the voices became much louder and clearer. I pressed my back to a wooden pillar, and peeked around it ever so slightly. My elf friend, who was standing by my feet, had to lean over quite a bit so he could see.

"So you're definitely sure she could see ya?" An Australian voice asked. I followed the sound to find the source, which caused my eyes to almost pop out of my head. It was a rabbit, and not just a regular pet rabbit, but a huge – probably six foot – rabbit standing on hind legs. His grey fur had darker grey markings resembling tattoos; around his torso was a leather sash which held four eggs in the slots. He stood with his arms folded, his long ears perfectly straight.

"If she couldn't, she'd be dead," Jack retorted. I then followed his voice to find him sitting on a desk, twirling the shepherd's crook idly. I could sense an air of tension between him and the rabbit, though I wasn't sure if that was due to the topic of conversation or not. Was I not supposed to be able to see Jack or something? He'd acted like it was a major thing back on the bridge.

What appeared to be a human-sized hummingbird flew in front of Jack, blocking my view of him. I was transfixed by the countless feathers ranging from greens to turquoises to blues and purples, each colour blending into the last. The wings were almost see-through, probably because of the speedy pace at which they were moving. I then got a view of the front and realised it was a girl, with a very young, pretty, human face – the greens of the feathers on her head arched where eyebrows should have been.

She was speaking hurriedly to a couple of tiny versions of herself, before abruptly stopping and addressing Jack. "Poor girl. I hope she's okay."

The rabbit took a couple of steps forward. "Ya know, if she hadda jumped, ya coulda caught her."

"Bunny!" The hummingbird scolded, moving towards him and revealing a very annoyed-looking Jack.

"What? I don't mean nothin' by it, just that he coulda easily flew down and caught her," 'Bunny' replied, holding his paws up defensively. Wait, _flew_ down? Jack could _fly_? I couldn't help finding it odd that I was looking at a talking, very tall rabbit, yet I found the possibility of someone flying crazy.

"I didn't really want it to go that far," Jack snapped.

"I still don't understand why ya brought a suicidal girl here," the rabbit said. "Ya coulda took her home."

"She doesn't _have_ a home, Bunny. I didn't know what else to do with her."

Before anything else could be said, two large wooden doors at the end of the room burst open, revealing a man with a long, white beard and dark, thick eyebrows, his baby blue eyes were large – but not in a scary, all-seeing kind of way, in a friendly, endearing kind of way. He was wearing a red jumper, with the sleeves rolled up to reveal intricate tattoos on both arms; 'naughty' was inked on the right and 'nice' on the left. He was very tall, taller than the rabbit in fact, which made him close to being intimidating, but his smile was gentle. His appearance was very similar to that of Santa Claus, at least what I remembered being told about him.

"North, please tell the icebox that this girl isn't our responsibility," the rabbit said, stepping towards the man. Normally, that kind of statement would have stung, but I was used to not being anyone's responsibility.

'North' spoke with a booming, Russian accented voice, "Man in Moon says she _is_."

Just then, in the moment of silence that followed his words, there was a thud and the sound of a bell hitting a hard surface. I glanced down at the elf lying on the floor in front of me, staring up at me sheepishly as he knew he'd blown my cover. With my head held down and my gaze lowered, I stepped out from behind the pillar and brushed a strand of dark hair behind my ear. I didn't dare look at anyone, afraid of what they'd think of my eavesdropping. I was also afraid of _them_.

"Finally awake, sleepyhead?" Jack spoke up, sounding a lot more cheerful than he had when he last spoke.

My eyes flickered between the beings in front of me. "Am I dead?" I asked in a very small voice. I lowered my gaze as I thought. I couldn't comprehend what was going on, the only explanation I could come up with was that I had actually jumped off of the bridge and was now in a strange version of heaven.

I heard the sound of fast-beating wings, followed by a soft, "It's okay, we don't bite." I raised my head again, literally taking a step back upon coming face-to-face with the half-bird, half-girl who seemed to have no concept of personal space. "Speaking of bite, do you mind if I look at your teeth? I bet they're wonderful!" I took another step back, confused and a little scared by this.

"Tooth!" Jack hissed while the rabbit chuckled. I finally allowed the reality of the situation to sink in, which caused me to stumble backwards clumsily and my eyes to widen significantly. Jack seemed to sense my panic and hopped off of the desk, before approaching me fairly tentatively, much like he had on the bridge. "Hey, Viola, it's okay."

I held both of my hands up in front of me as I continued to take steps backwards, signalling for Jack to stop moving. "Look, just... tell me what the hell is going on," I tried to sound somewhat threatening, but I sounded very pleading instead.

"Okay, okay," Jack responded, holding a hand up in a similar fashion to me to convey surrender. "I'll tell you everything."

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**Honestly, I tried writing this chapter so many times. I'm still not sure if I like how it turned out. Oh well.**


	3. Introductions

**Oh man, thank you for all this positive feedback, it's motivating me to write more. So here's another chapter for you :-)**

******Oh yeah, I changed the title of this story; it's now lyrics from the song Hey Jude, which is one of my all time favourite songs. Credit to The Beatles.**

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The second he finished speaking, a chair was scraped across the floor behind me, hitting the back of my legs. I glanced over my shoulder at it, letting loose an uncontrollable squeak at the sight of two very large creatures. Both were profoundly tall, around the same height or possibly even taller than the rabbit; one had almost pure white, thick fur covering its body and tied in a ponytail atop its head, and unblinking sky blue eyes. The other had dark grey fur, also with a ponytail, and deep green eyes.

I didn't know what they were, but they frightened me so much I hastily backed away and hid behind Jack who gave a light-hearted laugh. "Don't worry about the yetis, they won't hurt you," he reassured.

"Y-yetis?" I echoed, peeking over his shoulder at the creatures that simply blinked at me, before shrugging and getting back to whatever they had been doing beforehand. I realised I was clutching onto Jack's hooded sweater tightly, the fabric was bunched up inside my fists and my face was pressed against his back. I immediately released him, stuttering incoherent apologies as my cheeks burned. Jack just grinned, holding a hand out to the chair, gesturing for me to sit on it.

Once I was comfortable, Jack knelt down in front of me while the others stayed where they were, probably to make sure I had enough personal space to help me remain calm. Jack smiled at me in a way that said 'don't freak out', though it just panicked me a little more. "Okay," he began, half sighing. "First of all, you're at the North Pole."

"N-North…?" I felt myself becoming dizzy at his words. I couldn't even finish my sentence and sat back, clutching my forehead.

"Let me explain, you can ask questions when I'm done, okay?" Jack asked like he was speaking to a small child. I nodded and he smiled. "So, you're at the North Pole, in North's Workshop to be exact. Oh, you know North as Santa Claus. That's him over there." He pointed to the large man with the white beard.

"Do not be afraid, little one," North said. "You are not on naughty list, unlike your friend here."

He gestured towards Jack, who smirked and said, "What can I say?"

"So I'm at the North Pole," I repeated slowly and Jack nodded. "How did I get here?"

"I brought you here," Jack answered after a short pause. "I, uh, flew. Because I'm Jack Frost, believe it or not. Well… you must believe because you can see me."

"You're ramblin', mate," the rabbit commented, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, and that's Bunnymund, known to you as the Easter Bunny," Jack explained.

This caused me to feel quite sad. The Easter Bunny was one of my favourite myths I believed in as a child, but the Easter Bunny in front of me was nothing like I'd expected. "I didn't think the Easter Bunny was so… hostile," I voiced my thoughts, glancing at Bunnymund who unfolded his arms. At least, I presumed they were his arms, seeing as he walked on hind legs.

"Sorry about that, Sheila," he replied, chuckling slightly. "You an Easter fan?"

I frowned and turned away from him, holding my head high. "I _was_."

"I think you just got rejected," I heard Jack remark.

I faced Bunnymund again, grinning a little. "But it's a good thing I like the Australian accent." He laughed and shook his head.

"Ya know, you're alright, ya ankle-biter," he said, smiling.

Jack then pointed to the hummingbird-girl, who was once again speaking to the miniature copies of herself very quickly. "And that's the Tooth Fairy, Toothiana, but we just call her Tooth," Jack explained. Oh! Now it made sense why she wanted to look at my teeth! She must have heard her name, for she stopped speaking and smiled at me. I immediately felt shy because she really was beautiful, and the perfect mixture of elegant and bubbly.

"Sorry about before," I told her. "I would've let you look at my teeth if I'd have known."

"See, Jack? _Viola_ lets me," she said triumphantly. "I hope you like the clothes I chose for you, Viola."

I looked down at myself, then back at Tooth. "You dressed me?" I asked, and she nodded, smiling brightly. "Thank you, you have good taste."

Jack then sat back on his heels, studying me carefully. "Now you can ask as many questions as you want."

I had a _lot_, but the first one I blurted out was more of a clarification. "You're Jack Frost? As in, 'nipping at your nose'?"

Jack laughed and rubbed the back of his neck somewhat bashfully. "The one and only."

"The Spirit of Winter?"

"You know it."

"Wow. That explains a lot," I breathed, thinking mainly about how he dressed so casually and didn't even wear shoes in such cold weather.

I spent the next few hours with Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost, though I spent most of the time glued to Jack's side because for some reason I felt the most comfortable around him. I was still finding it very hard to come to terms with what was going on around me, although I was too happy to think too much about it – the happiest I'd been in a long time in fact.

When the Sandman turned up, I was instantly enchanted by him. He was very short and somewhat chubby, but this just added to his adorableness, and his face and nose were round. He seemed to be contrived from golden sand – at least the robes he wore on his body and his hair that was styled in a way which reminded me of the Statue of Liberty's crown did. His body and face was a slightly more beige colour while his eyes were the same gold as that of the sand, and he communicated through creating little images above his head with the grains. I realised he was who North had referred to as Sandy, and he arrived later on as he'd been busy giving the children of the dark side of the world good dreams.

I learned a lot about what I'd considered simple childhood fantasies; turned out they were called the Guardians and each had different centres which gave them different titles. They were chosen by the Man in the Moon – who was the very first Guardian and was an active observer of transpiring events. I also found out that Jack was the only one to have died to become who he was. It was only mentioned briefly but the words echoed through my mind for a while afterwards. I was overcome with a strange sadness and longed to ask him about it, but it seemed like an extremely personal and touchy subject. All I knew was that he was forever eighteen, immortal.

The Guardians protected the children of the world, but if the children stopped believing in them they slowly lost their powers and began to fade away. In order to see them, you had to believe in them, which had me wondering how _I_ could see them.

"I didn't even know I believed in you guys," I told them, fiddling with a strand of hair anxiously. "But obviously I must do."

"This confused me also, so I ask Man in Moon," North responded. "He said if someone is ready to take own life, they look for _some_ kind of hope, even if they do not know it."

"So, what, I've reverted back to believing in childhood fantasies to give me hope?" I questioned.

"Maybe you have," Tooth said. "Maybe because you were happier as a child."

"That means…" Jack spoke up, his blue eyes moving rapidly as he thought, then widening when he seemed to come to a conclusion. "We must be your last hope."

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**Wow. I hope that last bit didn't sound too cheesy. **

**I'll get some nachos just in case. **


	4. The Phoenix

**I'm back! I'm not dead!**

**omg I'm so sorry I haven't updated in forever... I don't know what to tell you. I mean, I had a lot of free time over the summer but I used that to watch TV shows. Then once it was September I went back to college, and this is a pretty stressful and busy year because I'm applying for university.**

**But I will try my hardest to update more often. Enjoy!**

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I was sitting with Tooth, listening to her describing her Palace to me while North, Bunnymund and Jack had a hushed conversation a little ways away from us. I would have attempted to listen in, but I was far too immersed in the Tooth Palace's floating pillars, filled with teeth from all around the world that held the memories of countless children. Only when I heard my name uttered by a voice that wasn't Tooth's did I snap out of it.

I spun around to see that Jack had stepped up behind me, smiling in such a way that suggested he was trying his hardest to hold back excitement. Angling my head on one side, I glanced at each of the Guardians – only Tooth appeared as confused as I felt. "Okay," I began, slowly. "What's going on?"

"We've found a way to help ya, mate," Bunnymund said. My eyebrows shot up and I turned to look at Jack, who seemed like he would explode if he didn't get to tell me.

"Help… _me_?" I questioned, eyebrows now drawn together.

"Viola," North spoke up. "How would you feel about staying at North Pole?"

_What? _Was that a trick question? Did he mean permanently? Would I be _living _with Santa? In his _workshop_? With elves and yetis and toys?

I could have burst out laughing. Or fainted. Was this really what my life had turned into? Not too long ago I was ready to kill myself, now I was being offered the chance to live in Santa's workshop.

"I would feel like the envy of every kid in the world," I said, completely serious. North let loose a thunderous laugh.

"This is what's gonna happen," Jack finally spoke. "You'll go back to your care home…" He noticed my face drop and quickly continued, "Now hear me out. It won't be for long. Maybe like a day – two tops – and North's gonna come and adopt you!"

Thoughts were whirling around in my mind so fast I was barely able to comprehend what was going on. "Wait, what?" I asked, facing North again. "You're gonna adopt me? _Me?_ Why?"

"Because you are special Viola," he answered, getting down on one knee so he was eye-level with me. "There is reason Jack found you on bridge, there is reason Man in Moon says you are our responsibility. We do not know what that is yet, but I feel this is right thing to do."

"You'll always welcome at the Warren, too, mate," Bunnymund suddenly said, stepping towards me. My mouth dropped open in surprise.

"And my Palace," Tooth added, clapping excitedly. Sandy pointed to himself with a huge smile on his face, which I guessed meant he was saying I was welcome to visit him, too.

"Maybe I'll show you how to have a little fun," Jack said, grinning.

I glanced at each of them in turn, they were all smiling at me fondly and I felt tears sting my eyes. I knew it was kind of their job to be so nice to me, but I felt extremely privileged that they'd let me visit them in their domains. I was pretty sure no kid had ever experienced that. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

"Oh!" North yelled, making me jump. He hurried out of the room, then returned seconds later clutching something in his hand. "Take this." I held out my hand, in which was placed a small, glass snow-globe. I shook it, causing the tiny white particles to float around, and stared at it in awe.

"There's nothing in it," I commented.

"Think of place, throw globe to ground, it will take you there," North explained.

I lifted my gaze to meet his and smiled. "Thank you." I took a step back and looked at the others. "All of you. But…I don't want to be a burden."

"Do not worry, Viola," North said. "It will make you happy, that is what matters."

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I said my goodbyes to the Guardians with a strange mixture of excitement and sadness; Sandy created a golden top hat on his head and tipped it to me, Tooth smiled at me in a way which made me feel almost ashamed of my looks, I tackled Bunnymund and hugged him tightly, and North gave me a great bear hug.

"I really appreciate this," I told them as I reached inside my pocket, grasping the glass ball in my hand. I glanced at each of them in turn, my gaze rested on Jack a little longer and he gave a small nod in response. While I stared at the snow-globe, North's words echoed through my mind; _think of place, throw globe to ground, it will take you there._ I exhaled deeply and looked back at the Guardians. "See you soon."

I brought the snow-globe up to my mouth, holding it close as I whispered, "Brooklyn Bridge." I shook it, gasping in awe when the image of a snow-covered bridge started to take form inside. I gripped the globe even tighter, then threw it to the ground where an explosion of colour and light erupted into a swirling vortex. Before I had chance to properly register what I was seeing, I plunged into the bright apparition.

Travelling through the vortex felt a lot weirder than I anticipated. I half expected it to be something like a door, something I could just step through and I'd magically be in the place I wanted to be. But no, it was nothing like that. I dived into it and I immediately started to spin around nauseatingly. All conscious thoughts disappeared almost right away and I felt too dizzy to panic about it. I tumbled out of the portal, landing on my rear on the cold hard ground.

I sat there blinking for a few moments, before shaking my head to clear it. I stood up shakily, dusting my clothes off and attempting to remain balanced. Glancing around, I concluded that I was in some alleyway that must have been near Brooklyn Bridge. Perhaps it had some kind of mechanism that ensured you didn't pop up out of nowhere in a busy area. I shrugged to myself and started to exit the alley, before suddenly remembering about the snow-globe and rushing back to collect it from the ground, scolding myself mentally.

I shoved the globe into my pocket, and kept my hand wrapped around it as I set off in the direction of the care home, to provide myself with the reassurance that everything that just happened wasn't all down to my imagination. Soon I would finally be adopted – by none other than Santa Claus.

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**Sorry if there's any mistakes, I couldn't really be bothered checking it... please don't throw things at me.**


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